Kristin Hannah

A daughter without her mother is a woman broken. It is a loss that turns to arthritis and settles deep into her bones.

I am like some wounded animal in a darkened lair, nursing the thorn in my paw, unable to find anyone to take it out.

...This fear was unbearable. It unwrapped who she was, as neatly as he'd unwound her bandage, leaving too much pain and ugliness exposed.Nerve endings; he'd said they were the problem [causing phantom pain in the amputated limb]." Things that cut off, that ended abruptly or died--like parents and marriages--kept hurting forever.

Alice started to cry. It came with no sound, no shuddering, no childlike hysterics, just a soul-deep release that turned into moisture and dripped down her puffy pink cheeks. She touched her tears, frowning. Then she looked up at Julia and whimpered two words before she fell asleep. __eal hurts._

Hey, Meg," she said without preamble. I need you to write a letter of recommendation for me. I'm applying for grad sc

This is the problem with forever friends. They know too much.

And before you barrel through some idiotic Cosmo girl list of how-well-do-you-know-your-man questions, let me say that I don't know squat about him except that he kisses like a god and screws like a devil.

If I have learned anything in this long life of mine, it is this: in love we find out who we want to be; in war we find out who we are.

Goddamn, sometimes it hurt to be free.

I just want to keep you safe.I smile. Americans can be so naive.

She knew now that no one could be neutral - not anymore - and as afraid as she was of risking Sophie's life, she was suddenly more afraid of letting her daughter grow up in a world where good people did nothing to stop evil, where a good woman could turn her back on a friend in need.

She had tried to be loved by him; more important, she had tried to keep loving him, but in the end, one was impossible as the other.

It is nearly impossible.''Nearly impossible and impossible are not the same thing.

We are all changed by this war, Soph. Daniel is your brother now that Rachel is ... gone. Truly your brother. And this baby, he or she is innocent of ... his or her creation.''It's hard to forget,' she said quietly. 'And I'll never forgive.''But love has to be stronger than hate, or there is no future for us.'Sophie sighed. 'I suppose,' she said, sounding too adult for a girl of he

Vietnam...war...it did something to us. Or maybe not. Maybe the bad seeds were always in me, and war gave them a dark place in which to grow.

Do you love him?"How would I know?"You'd know.

As mothers and daughters, we are connected with one another. My mother is the bones of my spine, keeping me straight and true. She is my blood, making sure it runs rich and strong. She is the beating of my heart. I cannot now imagine a life without her.

He is a man, and he is afraid. This is not a good combination.